Sweet Elisa
by Miss Quartermain
Summary: Part seven in the Mazanett Drabble series.  Life throws a lot at you sometimes.  But for Elisa, this has to be the strangest thing that has ever been thrown her way.  Will she cope?  AU Mazanett


Disclaimer: All characters belong to the amazing Greg Weisman. I'm only borrowing them for now. And this version of Puck is credited to Obi's Second Cousin.

Author's Note: MORE MAZANEEEEETT! Yaay! Just one thing to clarify for those who might be confused. Yes, this is the _female_ version of Puck—as written by the amazing Obi's Second Cousin—but Elisa doesn't know that yet, so she's assuming that Puck is a guy. She'll learn otherwise later.

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I'm used to strange things happening. In the last year and a half, I've been attacked by steel Gargoyles, almost blown up, shot, faced off with TV stars, learned about magic, and fallen in love with the personal assistant to my worst enemy. So…yeah. At this point, I'm kind of used to the strange and bizarre. But tonight had been the single weirdest night of my life.

Why? Because I'd been turned into a Gargoyle by a Child of Oberon. Now, I still didn't really understand what a Child of Oberon was—did that mean they were a _literal_ child of his?—but what I did know was that it meant they were what we'd call Faeries. Goliath described them as shapeshifters and changelings, beings of pure magic. I was still just trying to wrap my head around the fact that Oberon was more than just a character in Shakespeare's play, so accepting the fact that there was an entire race of beings like that was just a little weird. So was being turned into a Gargoyle and made to think that I'd always been one!

That had been the most disturbing part of the evening. It had made it really creepy on so many different levels. So I was grateful for the fact that now all the Gargoyles were in their stone sleep and I could go home and have a slight nervous breakdown. I wanted to talk to Owen, too, but he'd probably be busy right now. And we had no way of knowing whether or not Xanatos had bugged the phones, so we usually tried to call one another when we were sure Xanatos would be elsewhere. Which meant we didn't do it as often as we'd like.

After I'd been shot last year, we had agreed that we should keep our renewed relationship discrete, not telling my family or the Gargoyles, and especially not either of our employers. If Captain Chavez knew I was involved with Owen Burnett, of all people, then I would lose a lot of credibility. I'd been after Xanatos from the word "Go," and with the new information about my relationship with his right-hand man, it might lead people to assume I was also on Xanatos' payroll. I wasn't a dirty cop, but people aren't exactly known for assuming the best about people. So Owen and I kept our phone calls short and far between, much as we disliked it.

As I unlocked the door to my apartment, I sighed heavily. Maybe I could go ahead and call Owen anyway…I really needed to hear his voice right around now. Closing the door behind me, I yawned widely. Coffee first. Then I'd think about calling Owen.

My cat, Cagney, purred and meowed loudly, wrapping himself around my legs fondly and declaring that I should feed him right now. Smiling to myself, I scooped up the grey cat and stroked his fur as I made my way into the kitchen. Breakfast _did_ sound good now that I thought about it. I hadn't eaten since about three in the afternoon yesterday, and my stomach was now informing me of this fact very loudly. Hanging up my jacket and locking up my gun, I put Cagney back down and began looking for something to make for breakfast.

As I rifled through the fridge, I felt a light breeze go through the apartment. That…was weird. I straightened up with a frown and looked around. There weren't any windows open and the door was locked tight. Very weird. I moved away from the fridge towards where I'd locked up my gun. Maybe it was just Cagney wandering around the apartment.

Yeah. Right. After last night, I wasn't taking any chances right now.

My hand touched cold metal as I unlocked the box that held my gun and I looked around with a frown. Stepping out of the kitchen, I almost fired out of pure surprise when I saw the tiny form of the Puck in my living room.

Puck was tiny. I'm tall—about five foot eight—and Puck probably came to my shoulder. If that. Not only that, but his ears were enormous, and his angular face was framed by pure white hair that fell down to the middle of his back. I had to admit, the Puck was almost absurdly androgynous. The only reason I was mentally referring to Puck as a "he" was because of the play, _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. It was entirely possible that Puck was a girl, but I just couldn't tell for sure one way or another. Kind of disturbing, really. And after the night I'd had, this was just the last straw for me. I had to be suffering some kind of mental break at this point.

"Hello!" Puck said brightly, grinning at me rather like a child told that they could have an extra cookie before bed.

All I could do was stare at this strange Fae staring up at me. I mean…what did you _say_ to someone like the Puck?

"I…what are you doing here?" I finally demanded. Not quite what I'd really expected to say, but I was willing to go with it for now.

"I followed you home," Puck replied, still in that bright, almost childlike tone. I mentally noted that his voice was a rather warm alto, rather than a tenor or anything more masculine sounding. "Now you may keep me."

"…What…" I said dully.

My gun, which I had almost forgotten about, hung limply in my hand and I hastily placed it back in the box before I was stupid enough to fire by accident. Keep him? Keep the Puck? What the hell was going on here? And when had my life become so insane that this wasn't the craziest thing to happen to me in the last twenty-four hours?

Puck continued to grin at me. "You heard me."

He floated around in the air, flitting around to examine my apartment before coming to hover in front of my face. I noticed that his feet were a good eight inches off of the ground, but the fact didn't really sink in for me until later. All I could really notice at this point was the pair of enormous, almost unearthly green eyes that were even with my face. Puck's eyes were gorgeous, I found myself thinking.

Wait! I was spoken for! Why the hell was I thinking about how beautiful a crazy Faerie's eyes were?

"How did you get in here?" I finally managed to ask, finding my voice again.

"Told you," Puck replied flippantly. "I followed you home."

Cagney came over then, eyeing Puck in interest and meowing curiously. Puck responded by zipping down so that he was hovering inches above the ground, grinning at my cat, and purring. I'm not even kidding. He was purring like a cat. This seemed to make him all right in Cagney's eyes, because my cat purred in response and butted his head against Puck's sharp chin. Great, even my cat was insane now.

"Well why follow me home?" I demanded. "I'm not the only person in New York that you screwed with last night."

"No," Puck replied honestly, his voice suddenly serious. "But you were the one Demona wanted me to take out specifically."

My blood ran cold suddenly and I couldn't suppress the sudden shiver that ran down my spine. Demona, the female Gargoyle that had once been Goliath's mate and betrayed them due to her hatred of humans, had always had a personal vendetta against me. I didn't really understand why, beyond that I was a proof that her hatred of humans might be unfounded, since I had befriended the Gargoyle clan and done everything I could to protect them. Hugging myself and rubbing my arms as though to warm them, I frowned at Puck.

"Why would she…what do you mean?" I asked. "Take me out?"

Puck's expression became very serious as the tiny Fae moved so that he was floating, cross-legged, in the air in front of me. "She wanted me to destroy all the humans in the city," he said frankly. "When I told her that I couldn't do that, she said that she wanted me to rid her of 'that human.' That human was you, so I made you a Gargoyle, thereby ridding her of the _human_ Elisa Maza."

I once more found myself staring into Puck's eyes, almost mesmerized by the unearthly green of their depths. That didn't chase away the sudden chill that seemed to enter my apartment as I continued to stare at him. Demona…had wanted me and every human in New York dead. I knew that she was insane and hated all humans, but this…this was even worse than anything else she had done until now. But why me specifically?

"Wh-why me?" I managed to ask weakly. I wasn't sure what was making my voice so shaky now; the fear or Puck's eyes…

"She hates you," Puck said as though stating that the sky was blue. "Apparently she sees you as a rival for Goliath."

…Now I knew Demona was insane, but that was almost laughable. I loved Goliath and the rest of the clan, yes, but as brothers or really good friends. I would never be romantically interested in Goliath; not when I had Owen. I actually started to laugh darkly at this.

"That's insane," I said wryly.

"Never said she was all there, did I?" Puck retorted with a wicked grin, flitting in circles around me. "So now I owe you something for what I did to you," Puck said. "And Puck is many things, but never do I forget a debt owed."

…Erm…how did one respond to that? A Fae owed me something? This was surreal on so many levels. I discretely pinched my side to ensure that I wasn't dreaming this. I wasn't.

"No thanks," I said quietly. "I don't really want anything…"

That was a lie, and I knew it. I did want something, but I doubt that even the Puck could grant that wish. I was tired of hiding Owen from my family, from the clan…I was just sick of lying. Especially after what had happened to Derek. It was bad enough that I couldn't tell my parents what had happened to my brother, but not being able to let them know about the best part of my life…that was something even worse than hiding Derek's transformation. But I wasn't about to mention any of this to a Fae that I wasn't entirely sure I could trust.

"If you say so," Puck said brightly, touching right at my collarbone, sending chills through my body. "But if you change your mind, this will help you to find the Puck."

I looked down at where the slender, pale fingers touched my skin and jumped in surprise to see that a green gem on a gold chain had appeared around my neck. There are times when magic just creeps the hell out of me, and this was one of those times. Looking back up at Puck's face I nodded mutely.

"Very well, sweet Elisa," the Puck said with a grin, kissing my forehead and once more sending shivers through my body. "Be well." He paused for a moment before conjuring an image of a furry creature with fangs and claws. "And if you ever see one of these beings," he continued, his voice firm, "call for me _at once_. Hobgoblins are not known for their kindness, and they will kill you without a second thought."

And that wasn't terrifying _at all_. I nodded again, still a little stunned from everything that had happened this morning. Puck smiled sweetly and kissed my forehead again before vanishing, leaving the apartment feeling emptier and far more silent than it had been before.

Right…now I really needed to call Owen. And a stiff drink. Probably in that order. I walked over to the phone to do just that.


End file.
